Welcome to Chiaroscuro Magazine! A Place where Creativity Flourishes

In June 2007, the premiere edition of Chiaroscuro Magazine!–a place where creativity flourishes, was published on the web.  The magazine has since relocated to WordPress and is thriving here.  Our mission is to foster understanding and appreciation of creativity and Christianity.

For centuries, the interrelatedness between art and religion in the Jewish and Christian traditions has remained strong. If you are a visual artist and wonder where that creative spark in you originated, you will find answers here. If you have been led to believe that art is only Christian art if it has a scripture emblazoned on it, we will dispel that myth for you.

Although God is the Creator of the Universe, He is not often portrayed as a creative being. We tend to think of human individuals as being creative, not God. God, however, is the original creative individual, the original artist, THE CREATIVE ARTIST… one who embraces realism as well as abstraction and non-representationalism.

We welcome fine artists, whether painters, sculptors, clay artists, filmmakers, interior designers, landscape designers, fabric and fashion designers, anime artists, graphic designers, illustrators, writers and poets, musicians, singers, actors, dancers… literally all artists.

We invite you to visit Chiaroscuro Magazine often, and experience the joy of creativity and Christianity for yourself.

Carol Taylor
Founder

http://caroltaylorblackandwhite.com

Chiaroscuro Magazine Logo Design by Sephron

Communication… Speaking from a heart of love

Communication…

communication with God and with one another… frank, honest communication. Unfortunately, such communication is often difficult for others to receive. How often have the words, “Nice to see you,” “What a pretty child,” “Dinner was delicious,” “Love your hat,” been spoken, though insincere, in order to ingratiate oneself with or edify the hearer.

If one were to speak the truth, albeit in love, would that truth be accepted without argument? Doubtful. Better to keep quiet. Keep peace. “If you cannot say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Easier said than done although to do so would eliminate much of the constant chatter that has filled our airwaves and environments.

In interpersonal communication, whether face-to-face, on the cell, or in chat, it is often difficult to let a moment of silence occur without feeling discomfort… feeling the need to fill that void with a comment. Often, for those who have grown up in families where everyone seemed to be talking at once, when one has the floor, what could pass as “conversation” can seem to be more extended discourse and if coupled with anger, a diatribe.

To speak from a heart of love is the goal. “Speaking the truth in love.” (Ephesians 4:15)  ”Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.” (Psalms 19:14)

The Conversation

Caran d’Ache Aquarelle (Watercolour)

Thinking About Color… God Had A Color Plan! An Artist’s Viewpoint

We artists tend to take color for granted… our paints, our pencils, nature…

but wait!

What is color and where did it originate?

Read God Had A Color Plan! An Artist’s Viewpoint and learn more.

Interested in making ART? Why??

Although for centuries, the interrelatedness between art and religion in the Jewish and Christian traditions has remained strong, contemporary artists are often unaware of the origin of their creativity. It may be thought to come from our ancestors, a teacher in elementary school who encouraged us, or from the desire to imitate the fascinating illustrations in our childhood books. Many would never dream that their creativity is a gift from God–the Original Creative Artist!

As contemporary artists, we have pursued making art on our own terms. Unlike the artists of history who were commissioned by the king or the church, we have simply endeavored to express ourselves. We have been told that in expressing ourselves, we will learn more about ourselves. But has anyone stopped to think that this particularly narcissistic pursuit has an origin… and even a greater purpose? Where did our interest in art originate? Why do we want to make art? And from where did our artistic ability come?

In Chiaroscuro Magazine, we explore these questions and more.

Two little girls, Darry and Carol, who grew up to be Christian artists… who know where their gifts originated.

Thinking About God and ART?

We have some food for thought at Chiaroscuro Magazine!

-a place where creativity flourishes.

Visit Chiaroscuro Magazine for something to think about.

… If You Missed It the 1st Time… God Had A Color Plan!

Missed it the first time?  See God Had a Color Plan!  An Artist’s Viewpoint… God is AMAZING!!!

SephronSays: I’ll Never Have Children.

Chiaroscuro Magazine writer SephronSays, an artist/web designer, says “I’ll Never Have Children.”  What has caused this reaction?  Don’t most young Christian women want children?  Are the times changing?

If you are a teenager, parent or grandparent, you’ll want to read, “I’ll Never Have Children” by SephronSays… http://sephronsays.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/ill-never-have-children/

And, please comment, and share the link with your friends and family while giving SephronSays credit for her work according to the copyright notice on her web site.

God Had a Color Plan! An Artist’s Viewpoint

From our earliest childhood days, most of us were given a box of crayons and a coloring book, and asked to “sit down and color,” a quiet activity approved of by most parents.

We found that “coloring” was an interesting activity as we made colorful marks back and forth on the coloring book’s pages.  Some of us were so delighted at our colorful marks that we extended them to other books, the walls, and ourselves (all no-no’s in most households).

When we experimented with crayons and paints in elementary school (or earlier) where we were admonished to “stay within the lines,” we learned a bit of color theory.  We learned that the primary colors, red, yellow and blue, could not be made by mixing any of the other colors together.  We also found that each of the secondary colors, orange, green and violet, could be made by combining two primary colors.  An example would be that mixing red and yellow makes orange.  Perhaps by experimenting further, we even discovered that the tertiary colors, red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet and red-violet, could be made by the mixing of a primary color and an adjacent secondary color (example:  mixing red and orange makes red-orange) and that by adding white or black we could lighten or darken a color.

Color was everywhere in our environment and we tended to take its existence for granted.  But have we stopped to consider just where those colors originated?

God the Creator

The King James Version (KJV) of the scriptures tell us that God is the Creator.

Genesis 1:1-2 states:  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:3 – And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Genesis 1:4 – And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Because the following verse (Genesis 1:5) goes on to state that God called the light Day, and the darkness Night, it is common to consider light only as it relates to day and night.  But there is more to light than this.

What is the Origin of Color?

In 1666, Sir Isaac Newton experimented with a ray of sunlight passing through a prism and observed that the sunlight ray broke into a spectrum of seven colors (this is called refracted light).  These colors were arranged in the following order:  red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, the colors of the rainbow.*  He then used a second prism and discovered that he could recombine the colors of the rainbow into white light, like the light of the sunlight with which he had originally experimented.  Newton’s experiments proved that colors are actually components of light.

Sir Isaac Newton’s experiment with refracted light proves that when God said, Let there be light (Genesis 1:3 KJV), He was creating color. By creating light, God was actually creating color.

First Mention of Colors in Scripture

The first mention of a color in the scriptures is the color green in the first book Moses called Genesis.

And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. Genesis 1:30 (KJV)

Other first mentions in scripture of specific colors include:

Genesis 25:25           Red

Genesis 30:35           White

Genesis 38:28           Scarlet

Exodus 25:4              Blue

Exodus 25:4              Purple

Leviticus 13:30          Yellow

Leviticus 13:31          Black

Not appearing in the King James Version of the scriptures are the colors orange, violet, or any of the tertiary colors, i.e., red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet and red-violet.

In light, white is the presence of all colors and black is the absence of all colors.  In pigments, however, white is the absence of all color whereas black is the presence of all colors.  Of course, the purists among us would not include white or black as colors.  I am including them here nevertheless as they are used in the making of art.

The word, colours is mentioned in Genesis 37:3, while colour appears later in Leviticus 13:55.  The word, color, is not included in the King James Version.

A Bit of Color Theory

As a refresher on the subject of color, presented here is a bit of color theory.

The primary colors are red, yellow and blue.  Primary colors cannot be made by any mixture of other colors.

The secondary colors are orange, green and violet.  Each secondary color is made by combining two primary colors (example:  mixing yellow and blue makes green).

The tertiary colors are red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet and red-violet.  The tertiary colors are made by combining a primary color and an adjacent secondary color (example:  mixing yellow with green makes yellow-green).

The Rainbow*

Have you ever noticed that the colors of the rainbow* are arranged in a pattern—a specific order?  The next time you see a rainbow, observe the color arrangement.  You will see that the colors, in order from the top of the rainbow’s curve, are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

It is interesting to note that with the exception of indigo (the “Newton” color often disputed by scientists), the rainbow is comprised of only primary and secondary colors.

Final Words

Although God is the Creator, and His creation is full of color, He didn’t find it necessary to reiterate those colors in the scriptures.  It has been left to us, for the most part, to read and contemplate/meditate on God’s word in order to grasp the full meaning of scripture.  I hope that this essay has been useful in that regard.

*The word, rainbow, is first alluded to in Genesis 9:13-16; the term is “bow.”  The actual word, rainbow, however, appears later, in Revelation 4:3 and Revelation 10:1 (KJV).

Musings of a Confirmed Beachcomber… Reflections

As the Atlantic coast hurricane season nears, I am reflecting on the week just prior to the 4 hurricanes that passed back and forth across Florida in 2004… Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne.  Musings of a Confirmed Beachcomber was written during that week and I’ve never more enjoyed the varied experiences of being on the coast!  If you love being on the coast, you’ll relate to my observations of the activity of the sea…  the fish, birds, ghost crabs, turtles, various other sea life, tropical storm, seashells, the beach, the surfers…

… read Musings of a Confirmed Beachcomber… 7 Days on the Beach.

The Answer to: “Does God Approve of ART and ARTISTS? Where are the Christian ARTIST’S Role Models in Scripture?”

Part One 

   I began my quest for the answer to:

Does God Approve of ART and ARTISTS?

Where are the Christian ARTIST’S Role Models in Scripture?

with the beginning:  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 KJV)  This, the initial scripture from the first book of the Pentateuch, states that God was the creator, and that He used His spoken word, His voice, to create the universe.  In Genesis, Chapters 1 through 3, all that God created and the methods and processes that He used are listed.

In addition to the spoken word, He:

• made
• named
• set them
• created
• blessed and sanctified
• ended His work and rested
• was visual (God saw)
• formed man of the dust of the ground
• breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul
• planted a garden and put man into itmade every tree grow out of the ground, and a river went out of Eden to water the garden. 

   From this account beginning in Genesis I:I (KJV), it is clear that all of the elements of our universe were created by God.

He is the creator and His methods were creative.  God is the original creative visual artist who created creatively using two primary methods, the spoken word and His hands, and creation is His ART.

   God used His hands to create us and more.  He made the firmament (Gen.1:7); God set them (Gen. 1:17); God formed man (Gen. 2:7); God formed beast, fowl (Gen. 2:19); Took Adam’s rib and made woman (Gen. 2:21, 22); The Lord made coats of skins and clothed Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:21).

   As an artist, I understand that the term, made, means to create; that formed means to sculpt with ones hands, and that to set or plant means to place an object in a location.  God used these various methods, methods that we consider artistic, in His creation. 

   God created the heaven and the earth by speaking them into existence.  God said, Let there be light and there was light.   As God created the heaven and the earth, it follows that He created all of the materials that are typically used in making art such as pigment, binder, fiber, wood, stone, clay, etc.  God created every element we use in art as well, including line, color, texture, pattern, contrast, shape, volume, light and shadow, depth, substance, beauty, and variety.

   In creating everything, God created the five senses through which we perceive beauty, i.e., sound, taste, touch, smell, and sight.  Sight is essential to the experiencing of the visual arts, and depth perception is crucial to the enjoyment of 3-dimensional artwork, including sculpture and architecture.

   God the Creator.  He created the world and everything in it.  The arts as we understand them today were created by Him.  We, as artists, simply reconfigure the elements that God created, using those elements for our own artistic expression.  We create because He created us in His image–in the image of Himself, THE CREATOR. 

   We view God’s original creation as realistic, as standard representation.  We accept the natural world, i.e., the colors in nature, the green grass, the blue sky, the green herb (Gen. 1:30 KJV) as being realistic.  Everything that God created, we view as realism.  God is a representational artist.

   Why, then, with God as our example of creative artistry, was I finding  visual art so often absent from the church?  God created everything we need to be creative and to make art.  Where were the artists and where was their art? 

   The churches could, should, be filled with visual examples of His Spirit’s presence to the glory of God.  The possibilities are endless for the creativity of God’s people to fill His Sanctuary, His church.  Every possible material is available, gold, silver, marble, wood for carving, paint, canvas, photographic equipment, clay, fiber… every conceivable material could be employed.  The simple, unadorned cross need not be, typically, the only visual artistic reference in protestant churches, standing as a lone visual reference to the life and ministry of God.

   I am certainly not suggesting that the walls be hung with the reproductions of paintings depicting religious themes, and photographs of sunrises and sunsets with scripture stretched across their width found in religious bookstores.  To do so would be to minimize the potential of artistic expression.  It would be a simplistic solution, and not even an adequate one. 

   Far better that the church declare that God, as the original creative visual artist who asks that we imitate Him, has in fact ordained that we express our creativity, that we make art.  Such a declaration by the church would throw open the floodgates of creative expression, and the church would be filled to overflowing with beauty, artwork full of meaning, spiritually inspired. 

   The overflow would pour out from the church, the central hub, to the community.  Public Art would have new, relevant meaning.  Its effect would flow into individual homes where it would daily touch the lives and hearts of the family.  Beauty and meaning, through art, would become a given.  It would enhance and inspire the life of the individual, causing that person’s attention to be lifted to thoughts of God, to worship.

   It is clear that one form of the arts is not more spiritual than the others.  Although music is spiritually uplifting and widely accepted for use in worship within protestant churches, music is not more spiritual or more important than the visual arts, or poetry, or dance, or film.  All of the arts could be utilized within the same framework as music has been traditionally.  

   An artwork needs no justification via an additional label attached that proclaims a scripture.  An artwork can certainly stand alone, as the rainbow stands alone after the rain, as a reminder of God’s covenant with Noah to never again flood the earth.  There is no scripture pasted to the rainbow, and its beauty is a reminder of the creativity of God, a visual reminder of His love for us.

   True, the golden calf and the graven images are examples of the visual expression of creative people, and God was displeased with them.  But His displeasure was not in the artistic ability of the people, nor was it in the resulting artwork.  He was not angry because the golden calf lacked beauty.  Graven images did not lack form, but it was the intended function of these artworks that caused God’s anger.  The people were using these artworks as objects of their worship.  They were worshipping these artworks as idols, and God’s displeasure was in the content of the artwork.  God does not abhor artistic expression–to express oneself artistically is to imitate God.  But God does abhor His people worshipping other gods, and that is the lesson to be learned in the examples of the golden calf and the graven images.

   Over time, this message appears to have been lost, lost to the extent that those who may have become artists, whose work would have been utilized in the church bringing joy and inspiration to the congregation, has been lost as well.  The hearts of the clergy must turn back to the heart of God where artistic gifts are concerned.  Those who were given artistic gifts by God must be welcomed back to the congregation as artists whose expression, whose artwork, is important and necessary to the full functioning of the church.  To have eliminated the visual arts from the church is to have cut off one arm of the congregation, and the church cannot function properly without that one arm.  To be made whole, the church must reconcile itself with the arts, and the arts must occupy their rightful place in the church.

Is it Christian Art ONLY if it has a scripture attached??

HINT:  Consider the beautiful rainbow that appears after the rain.